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New species of monkey discovered in
Tanzania: the Critically Endangered
highland mangabey Lophocebus kipunji
A new species of monkey, the first to be discovered in
Africa since 1984, has been unexpectedly found in two
separate montane forest areas in Tanzania: Ndundulu
Forest of the Udzungwa Mountains and RungweLivingstone in the Southern Highlands, 350 km from
Ndundulu. The monkey is a mangabey and has been
named the Highland mangabey Lophocebus kipunji. The
common name reflects the fact that it is found in forests
at elevations above 1,300 m and as high as 2,450 m,
where temperatures can drop to -3°C. The species
name, kipunji (pronounced kip-oon-jee), is the name that
local people in the Southern Highlands have for the ‘shy
monkey’ they reported seeing from time to time in the
forest. The species is a medium-sized brown monkey
with a very long and broad erect crest of hair on its head;
its ventrum and distal third to half of its tail are off-white.
The facial skin is uniformly black, with no contrasting
eyelid coloration (differential eyelid color is characteristic of the other genus of mangabeys, Cercocebus). It is
arboreal and lacks the characteristic ‘whoop-gobble’
loud-call vocalization of all other known mangabey
species in both genera.
The discoveries were made independently by
researchers engaged in separate conservation projects.
The project in the Udzungwa Mountains was focused
on another mangabey, the Critically Endangered Sanje
mangabey Cercocebus sanjei, one of the world’s most
threatened primates. Whilst attempting to verify reports
by Danish ornithologists that the Sanje mangabey was
present in Ndundulu Forest, the Highland mangabey
was sighted and identified as a new species by C. Ehardt
and T. Butynski. Subsequently, Ehardt learnt that
T. Davenport and his team, working on a broad-scale
conservation project in the Southern Highlands, had
discovered the same species of mangabey several months
earlier in the course of their work in the Rungwe/
Livingstone forests. It was thus out of concern for other
threatened species and their forest habitat that the
independent discoveries were made. A jointly authored
description of the new species was prepared by the two
teams (Science, 308, 1161–1164).
Data from the two projects suggests that the new
mangabey should be categorized as Critically
Endangered using the IUCN Red List criteria (http://
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www.redlist.org/info/categories_criteria2001.html), the
major criteria being its extremely limited distribution,
fragmentation into two populations, and the likelihood
that its abundance is low. In Ndundulu Forest in the
Udzungwas the major concern is that there are likely to
be very few Highland mangabeys remaining, perhaps
fewer than 500 animals. Our preliminary surveys found
only three groups, all within a 3 km2 area; previous
surveys in this forest and discussions with local villagers
indicated that the mangabey is absent from much of
Ndundulu Forest. The forest is in good condition,
although its status of Forest Reserve, as it is now classified, does not provide the degree of monitoring and
protection that will fully assure survival of this small
population of the mangabey. We are continuing efforts
to encourage the Tanzanian government to incorporate
Ndundulu Forest Reserve into adjacent Udzungwa
Mountains National Park, thereby increasing the level of
protection.
The most significant risk to this new species is the continuing severe degradation of the Rungwe-Livingstone
forests. Unabated logging, poaching, and unmanaged
resource extraction are of great concern, and unless there
is immediate conservation intervention the narrow forest
corridors linking the forests of this area will be destroyed
and the Highland mangabey population in the Southern
Highlands will become fragmented. This will add further
pressure to a population estimated to only number
250–500 animals. The new Kitulo National Park should,
however, provide increased protection for the portion of
the population in Livingstone Forest. The mangabeys in
Mount Rungwe Forest Reserve, in contrast, are severely
threatened and immediate conservation intervention is
imperative.
It is astonishing that, in 2004, a completely new species
of African monkey can be discovered. Additional new
primate taxa may yet be found, especially in biodiversity
hotspots, which are receiving increased research and
conservation attention. It is also likely, however, that
such finds will be of highly threatened taxa, as is the case
for the Highland mangabey. This should encourage
everyone engaged in biodiversity conservation to
redouble their efforts; without continued research taxa
may be lost before they are even discovered.
Carolyn L. Ehardt
Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, Athens
Georgia 30602-1619, USA
E-mail [email protected]
© 2005 FFI, Oryx, 39(4), 370–374
doi:10.1017/S0030605305001225 Printed in the United Kingdom
Conservation news
Thomas M. Butynski
Conservation International, P. O. Box 68200, City Square 00200
Nairobi, Kenya
E-mail [email protected]
Tim R. B. Davenport
Wildlife Conservation Society
Southern Highlands Conservation Programme
P. O. Box 1475, Mbeya, Tanzania
E-mail [email protected]
Soaring sales of ivory items in Sudan
The Khartoum/Omdurman area of northern Sudan has
become one of the largest ivory markets in the world. A
survey in January–February 2005 sponsored by Care for
the Wild International counted over 11,300 ivory items,
almost all carved from new elephants tusks, in 50 shops.
While Sudan has lost the majority of its elephants to
poachers (numbers fell from c. 133,000 in the early 1970s
to c. 40,000 in the early 1990s, with even fewer today), it is
likely that most tusks in trade in northern Sudan are now
coming from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Baggara horsemen from Darfur and southern Sudanese
rebel soldiers using modern firearms have been crossing
the border to poach elephants in, for example, the DRC’s
Garamba National Park, and taking the tusks into Sudan.
Soldiers from the Sudan army, police and civilians
are killing elephants in southern Sudan. The soldiers,
with access to army vehicles, transport the tusks from
southern Sudan to sell to traders and craftsmen in
Khartoum/Omdurman. An average size tusk (only
2–3 kg nowadays) sells for USD 105 kg-1, as opposed to
USD 20 kg-1 to traders in the DRC.
Sudan bans the sale of tusks that have come from
elephants killed after 1990, but almost all the ivory items
seen for sale in Khartoum/Omdurman are made and
sold illegally from new ivory from poached elephants.
The Sudan government rarely seizes new tusks or
worked ivory at the border, in workshops or in souvenir
outlets. While much of the world has succeeded in reducing worked ivory sales, the Sudan government generally
ignores shopkeepers who sell ivory items.
Chinese residents and visitors to Sudan buy over 75%
of the ivory items on display in the shops, mostly
jewellery and small figurines as souvenirs, and smuggle
them to China in their luggage. There are also South
Korean and Saudi Arabian buyers. However, the
expanding numbers of Chinese working in Sudan, in
the oil industry, mining and construction, mean that
the 150 ivory craftsmen in Khartoum/Omdurman are
busy catering to the growing Chinese demand for ivory
items – including chopsticks (c. USD 13 per pair) and
name seals.
© 2005 FFI, Oryx, 39(4), 370–374
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Since the late 1990s more illegal tusks have been
imported into China than into any other country; most
originate from central Africa. The estimated number of
African elephants being poached in central Africa for
the illegal ivory markets in Asia and Africa, including
Sudan, is 5,000–12,000 per year, which is above
sustainable levels.
In October 2004 the CITES Conference of the Parties in
Bangkok urged member states to comply with CITES, not
only to fight ivory smuggling but also to clamp down on
unregulated domestic ivory markets by mid March 2005.
There is still no sign of this happening in Sudan. International pressure must be mounted on the Sudan government to enforce its own wildlife laws, and on the Chinese
government to urge its citizens to stop buying ivory
trinkets in Sudan.
Esmond Martin and Lucy Vigne
P.O. Box 15510, Mbagathi, 00503 Nairobi, Kenya
E-mail [email protected]
Fiji’s Xixuthrus longhorn beetles
Vulnerable, not extinct
Fiji’s giant longhorn beetles, Xixuthrus heros and X.
ganglebaueri of Viti Levu, and X. terribilis of Vanua Levu
and Taveuni (Yanega et al., 2004, Zootaxa, 777, 1–10) are
among the largest (14.5 cm body length) and rarest
beetles in the world. So rare, in fact, that they have been
declared extinct several times in popular books and
on the internet. Recent research by Fiji’s Department
of Forestry and the Wildlife Conservation Society
suggests these beetles should actually be categorized
as Vulnerable (http://www.redlist.org/info/categories_
criteria2001.html) on the IUCN Red List. This proposed
status is based on the natural history and rarity of these
enormous beetles, making them sensitive to loss of natural forests, logging of the large host trees they require for
reproduction, and intensive commercial exploitation.
Very large Cerambycid beetles are often naturally rare,
possibly because of strong competition for suitable host
trees. Fijian Xixuthrus larvae could live >10 years and
we suspect a single tree may host only one or two larvae,
at the most, based on observations of larval tunnels (5 cm
diameter) in dead wood of a live buabua (Fagrea gracilipes,
Loganiaceae). This tree, the only documented host tree
species, had a diameter at breast height (dbh) of 80 cm.
Standing trees of this size are uncommon in Fijian forests
(we estimate <4 km-2) and they are targeted in logging
operations. Fijian rainforests and larger trees continue
to be lost through logging and agricultural expansion,
and thus populations of beetles are probably declining.
The abundance of large trees of suitable host species
and moisture content may be key limiting factors for
Xixuthrus reproduction.
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Conservation news
Based on our recent collections adults probably live
from May to September. They are strong flyers, which
allows them to cover large distances in search of mates
and host trees. During these flights both sexes are
attracted, over long distances, to lights. The formidable
appearance and hissing of adult beetles causes most to
be killed when they arrive at lights and this may be an
significant source of adult mortality for populations at
the edge of natural forest.
Fijian Xixuthrus may also be declining throughout
their range through predation on adults and larvae by
alien mammals, specifically black, Pacific, and Norway
rats, mongoose, cats, dogs and pigs. Our research suggests that pressure from rats and mongoose is lower
>5 km from any forest edge. Thus, forest-edge beetle
populations may be most heavily affected by alien
mammal predation. Presently, logging of natural forests
is intensive and logging roads, acting as highways
for rats and mongoose, are now penetrating many
remote areas. Thus, rats, lights, and logging may increasingly restrict populations of Xixuthrus to larger blocks of
unlogged natural forest.
Fijians occasionally eat Xixuthrus larvae and adults,
but this probably has minimal impact on beetle populations. Another potential threat is the introduction of
beetle parasites to Fiji. Currently, adult Fijian Xixuthrus
show no evidence of phoretic mites or pseudoscorpions
(10 live specimens observed), a feature that is unusual,
as large Cerambycids elsewhere typically host large
numbers. Having evolved without phoretic symbionts
may render Fijian beetles particularly sensitive to
introduced parasites.
Finally, although there is little domestic market for
these beetles as curios, good specimens of adult X. heros
and X. terribilis have been offered for sale on the internet
and at insect fairs for prices of USD 4,000–12,000. We
have also encountered Japanese and Italian collectors
and entomologists in Fiji seeking specimens of these
beetles. Given their rarity, the market price and demand,
and the potential for commercial collectors to employ
banks of attracting lights, we are concerned about the
potential for damage to populations of Fijian longhorn
beetles. We feel it would be precautionary to apply
CITES Appendix 1 status, Annex D of the European
Wildlife Trade Regulation, and Fiji’s Appendix III status
to all Fijian Xixuthrus, given their natural rarity, vulnerability to commercial exploitation (the long larval stage
of these beetles probably precludes commercial farming),
and the need for more information about their distribution and ecology. Nominations are in preparation for
each status. The recent case of an endemic Lucanidae
(stag beetle) on Lord Howe Island being nearly wiped
out by one collector is a cautionary tale. While the IUCN
Red List, CITES status, EU Annex D, and Fiji’s Appendix
III are important conservation tools, the most costeffective and precautionary approach to ensure a future
for these beetles is for Fiji to establish a network of larger
forest reserves and to leave some larger trees standing
after logging operations.
Sanjana Lal, Lusi Tuvou
Silviculture Research Division, Department of Foresty, Box 2218
Government Buildings, Suva, Fiji
E-mail [email protected]; [email protected]
Sunil Prasad, Gabrielle Gravelle, Akanisi Cagitoba,
Linda Farley & David Olson
Wildlife Conservation Society–South Pacific, 11 Ma’afu Street, Suva, Fiji
E-mail [email protected]
Two international meetings on the
conservation of the Mongolian gazelle and
saiga antelope, Ulaanbaatar, October 2004
Two international meetings on the conservation of
steppe ungulates were held over 25–30 October 2004 in
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The first was devoted to the
conservation and management of the Mongolian gazelle
Procapra gutturosa, and was organized by the World
Conservation Society (WCS), in collaboration with the
US Agency for International Development, the UNDP/
GEF Project on Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Livelihood Options in the Grasslands of Eastern
Mongolia, the WWF Mongolian Program Office and the
Mongolian Academy of Sciences. This conference had
strong participation from Mongolian national and local
government and protected areas managers, and brought
together more than 100 local and international specialists
studying the Mongolian gazelle.
The first day was a scientific workshop at which the
key scientific issues that need to be tackled were identified and debated. One of the most contentious issues
is the estimation of population size (see also Oryx, 39,
164–169). There is still no resolution either on the current
population size or on the most appropriate methodologies for obtaining an estimate. Estimates range from
c. 400,000 to >1 million. Currently various ground-based
methods are used, and although there have been consistent long-term studies in particular areas, surveys of
other areas have been more patchy. This is problematic
for such a nomadic species and makes the interpretation
of local trends difficult. A comprehensive aerial survey
in 1994 by a Mongolian-German team estimated gazelle
numbers at >4 million, but this has been controversial.
Long-term (1994–2004) surveys in Eastern Mongolia
conducted by a Mongolian-Russian team suggest that
up to 1998 Mongolian gazelle numbers increased, but
declined rapidly thereafter. At the workshop it was
agreed that regular aerial surveys were necessary but
© 2005 FFI, Oryx, 39(4), 370–374
Conservation news
that funding is the limiting factor. It was also agreed that
ground-based methods should be used to supplement
and validate aerial surveys. Although the meeting did
not resolve all issues, they were at least aired and there
was general agreement that teams must work together.
One of the outputs of the workshop was a GIS-based
database prepared by WCS, containing information
from a questionnaire survey of specialists. This provides
a compilation of all the information on Mongolian
gazelles, which is a step towards reaching consensus.
It was clear from the meeting that there is significant
ongoing poaching, which is probably the cause of
population declines. A joint Mongolian-Japanese team
showed, using satellite-tagged individuals, that the
Ulaanbaatar-Beijing railway disrupts movement patterns. The border fence between China and Mongolia
is also a significant barrier to movement, and there
are plans to build a road and oil pipeline in Eastern
Mongolia, which is likely to disrupt movement further.
The second part of the meeting brought scientists and
policy-makers together to move forward on an action
plan for the conservation of the Mongolian gazelle. One
strand of this was the consideration of a draft agreement
for the management of transboundary populations of the
Mongolian gazelle. The representative from the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) helped to facilitate
these discussions, and we hope that there will be a
Memorandum of Understanding signed between China,
Mongolia and Russia under the CMS. There has already
been cooperation for a decade between the three range
states within the framework of the Dauria International
Russian-Mongolian-Chinese Protected Area. This could
form a good basis for a broader agreement covering the
whole range of the species.
The second meeting, on the Mongolian saiga Saiga
tatarica mongolica, was organized by the WWF Mongolian
Program Office and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences.
This was a timely meeting at which the dire status of
the Mongolian saiga was outlined (see also Oryx, 38,
250–251). In recent years conservation intervention by
WWF-Mongolia and colleagues has had substantial
success; in 2002 the population reached a peak of c. 5,000
animals and local people were engaged in a benefitsharing project funded by WWF’s Large Herbivore
Initiative. However, funding ceased and a series of bad
winters combined with poaching reduced numbers to
c. 750 in spring 2004. The meeting was very concerned
about the effect that another bad winter in 2004/5 might
have on the population, and policy recommendations
were dominated by suggestions for actions to mitigate
the effects of bad weather, as well as continuing to enlist
the support of local people for saiga conservation.
Presentations were given by members of the UK
Darwin Initiative supported project Using Saiga Antelope
© 2005 FFI, Oryx, 39(4), 370–374
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Conservation to Improve Rural Livelihoods on their work in
Kalmykia and Kazakhstan, strengthening conservation
capacity and raising public awareness. Information was
also given about the successful captive breeding facility
in Kalmykia, and it was suggested that there might be a
strong case for collaborating to set up a similar facility in
Mongolia.
The Mongolian saiga has been neglected by international conservation bodies and this needs to change if
this subspecies is not to be lost. It was agreed that awareness could be raised by ensuring that Mongolia was
included in the Memorandum of Mutual Understanding
Concerning Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable
Use of the Saiga Antelope (Saiga tatarica tatarica) to be
signed under the CMS, and in the action plan for saiga
conservation drawn up in Elista in 2002.
A. Lushchekina, Russian MAB Committee
V. Kiriljuk, WWF Far East Branch, Russia
E.J. Milner-Gulland, Imperial College London, UK
E-mail [email protected]
The first botanical expedition to the Putu
Hills, south-east Liberia
In May-June 2005 a joint expedition of the Universities
of Wageningen (Netherlands) and Liberia (Monrovia)
visited the Putu Hills in south-east Liberia for 3 weeks.
The Putu Hills consist of two narrow, iron-rich ridges
running north-south and rising abruptly to over 800 m.
This small, isolated mountain group lies deep within the
Upper Guinean rainforest belt of West Africa. No botanical expedition had previously visited the Putu Hills. The
team explored the eastern Putu range and the southern
extensions of both ridges, collecting 467 plant species,
93 of which are endemic to the Upper Guinean Forest.
At least six apparently new species were discovered,
and several other rare species were found including six
not previously recorded from Liberia. For unknown
reasons species from the Areaceae family were unusually
abundant.
The team found most of the Putu Hills covered in
intact forest. Higher-elevation areas of the eastern ridge
have distinct characteristics: dense moss cover on stems
and branches, and montane species of epiphytic ferns.
It is likely that the slopes the valleys between ranges
remained under forest cover during drier ice-ages
when much of the surrounding lowland was savannah.
Because the expedition took place at a sub-optimal time
for flowering and fruiting the species collected represent
only a modest portion of the diversity of the Hills.
Orchids in particular appear to be diverse but could
not be collected because few were flowering. Future
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Conservation news
expeditions should explore the flora of the Hills at more
optimal times, and examine the western ridge as well as
the forest in the valley between the ridges.
Logging, farming and iron mining are all possible
threats to the Putu Hills, whose rich floral diversity
could be rapidly lost because of their small area. The area
should be considered urgently for official conservation
protection based on botanical diversity.
Carel C.H. Jongkind
Wageningen University, The Netherlands
E-mail [email protected]
New and improved internet resources
In July 2005 information on the Eastern Arc Mountains
global centre of endemism in Tanzania was made available at http://www.easternarc.or.tz. This is the web site
of the Eastern Arc Mountains Conservation Endowment
Fund, the only sustainable financing mechanism dedicated to the conservation of the forests of the Eastern Arc.
If you have published papers or written unpublished
reports on any aspect of conservation in the Eastern Arc,
or know of financial opportunities to support conservation in the Eastern Arc, the Fund would be pleased to
hear from you (contact [email protected])
NatureServe Explorer (http://www.natureserve.org/
explorer/) is an authoritative source for information on
more than 65,000 plants, animals, and ecosystems of the
United States and Canada. Explorer includes in depth
coverage for rare and endangered species.
InfoNatura (http://www.natureserve.org/infonatura/)
is a conservation and educational resource on the birds,
mammals and amphibians of Latin America and the
Caribbean, covering more than 8,500 common, rare and
endangered species.
Bushmeat IMAP (http://www.bushmeat.org/IMAP/
index.html) is an initiative developed by the Bushmeat
Crisis Task Force (BCTF) to create a central repository of
information on bushmeat hunting, consumption and
trade worldwide, with a particular focus on sub-Saharan
Africa and especially Central Africa. Bushmeat IMAP
involves both the process of gathering information and
mechanisms for cataloguing and sharing it, including a
searchable library of key legislation, published research,
internal reports & media, a customizable map maker for
finding and mapping information on protected areas,
roads, concessions, human settlements and wildlife
distributions in Central Africa, and a geo-referenced
database of conservation projects worldwide, and
hunting and market sites of concern in sub-Saharan
Africa.
WWF US recently launched WildFinder (http://www.
worldwildlife.org/wildfinder) a map-driven, searchable
database of more than 30,000 birds, mammals, reptiles
and amphibians worldwide with a powerful search tool
that allows users to discover where species live or to
explore wild places to find out what species live there.
A new e-bulletin, Saiga News, is now available at
http://www.iccs.org.uk/saiganews.htm and http://
saigak.biodiversity.ru/publications.html. The first issue
includes articles about the status of saiga in Turkmenistan, the role of saiga horn in traditional Chinese
medicine, and genetic differentiation between saiga
populations, as well as updates on regional and international saiga conservation and highlights of press coverage of saigas in the range states and elsewhere. Saiga
News will be published twice a year, and it is hoped that
it will be used as a forum for the dissemination of saiga
information to all interested parties. It is currently available as a PDF file, and in hard copy upon request, in
English and Russian. Chinese and Mongolian versions
will be available in the near future.
© 2005 FFI, Oryx, 39(4), 370–374